John Stevens Jr. (1715-1792)

He was born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, where his father had emigrated to from England in 1699. He became a merchant and shipowner, trading principally with the West Indies and Madeira. He inherited and acquired several large tracts of land as well as mines in Hunterdon, Union, and Somerset Counties, New Jersey. During the French & Indian War he helped raise and finance troops for the British. He was resident in New York City by 1765 where he was on the Committee of Four that prevented the issue of stamps under the infamous Stamp Act. From 1770 to 1782, he was Vice-President of the Council of New Jersey and in 1774 was appointed a Commissioner to define the boundary line between New York and New Jersey. He was a member of the Continental Congress in 1783 and 1784 and presided over the Constitutional Convention in 1787. He married Elizabeth, daughter of James Alexander, Attorney-General of New York and New Jersey. He died at Hoboken and was survived by two children: John Stevens III, Treasurer of New Jersey; and, Mary, Mrs Robert R. Livingston, Chancellor of New York.